Two people were feared dead and four others rescued after a slope of a hillock came crashing down on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday evening, officials said on Sunday.

Eight people have also been injured and have been shifted to the district hospital in Ramban, they said.

“Workers of NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) were on the job on the slope. They were cutting rocks off the hill with machines when it fell off. The incident took place at Seri at around 7pm,” Haseeb Ur Rehman, Ramban’s senior superintendent of police (SSP), said.

Rehman said two people are still buried under the debris.

A rescue operation is on but their chances of survival look grim. A JCB machine is also buried under the debris,” he added.

The officer said a dumper fell off the Kashmir highway into a nearby gorge after being hit by the debris. The Jammu-Srinagar highway has also been blocked by the debris.

Initial reports from the site state that three dumpers, a truck, a load-carrier and a JCB machine are under the debris.

The search operation will continue till we retrieve all those who were hit by the landslide,” Nazim Zai Khan, Ramban’s deputy commissioner, said